Colin Harper

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For the footballer with the same name, see Colin Harper (footballer)

Colin Harper (born 1968) is an Irish music journalist. He was born in Belfast and graduated in 1989 from Queen's University, Belfast. As a writer for the Belfast "Irish News" he wrote unsiged features on local bands and famous bands on tour. During the mid-nineties he was able to have pieces published by Q and Mojo. The Irish times also printed theatre reviews by him, and Belfast music events. The record labels Windsong, Demon, Castle, Hux and Snapper have used him as a writer of liner notes for compilations of folk, acoustic and prog-rock artists. His book "Dazzling Stranger" (a biography of Bert Jansch) was launched at the Edinburgh Book Festival. He also masterminded the tribute album "People On The Highway:A Bert Jansch Encomium" (2000). He interviewed Jansch for "Dreamweaver" on Channel 4 in 2000.

In 2003 he took a post as librarian at Belfast music college, but continues to work as a journalist, mainly for Mojo and "Record Collector". In support of the charity World Wide Fund for Nature he organised two benefit compilation albums - "The Wildlife Album" (2004) and "Live In Hope: The Wildlife Album 2" (2005). His other annotated CD compilations include the collected works of Atomic Rooster and Andy Roberts.

In April 2007, he courted controversy by encouraging Daniel Johns, of the band Silverchair, who is vegetarian, to eat something which he later revealed to be corned beef. Harper has later apologised for being "unthinking".^{[citation needed]}